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Monday, April 4, 2011

Mika's run at the April 1 trial

I didn't talk about Mika's run during my last post. Well, I was happy with Mika, but not very happy at myself :) Our run was a Starters Snooker. We started off well and got to two reds before being whistled off (one more than our last Snooker run, haha)! What happened? Well, I tried to rear cross the tire after the second red jump, but for some reason Mika pulled off the tire right after I crossed behind her. (My RC was great, for once, so I'll assume that it's a training problem). But the part that I was really annoyed about what how I reacted after Mika pulled off. One of my biggest rules while running my dogs -- especially soft Mika! -- is to ALWAYS keep going when we make the mistake. Well, I kept going, but not after really hesitating for about a second and almost stopping. For some reason I had this big urge to turn around to try the tire again. Mika turned to me like "What happened?" and we kept going to the next red jump (and by then the judge had lifted up his whistle and whistled us off for doing two reds in a row). UGH, I was just so annoyed at myself, especially as I watched the video. I HATE it when I make these mistakes that gradually chip away at Mika's motivation. She was a tad bit slower after my mistake, but soon sped up again.

I am trying to forgive myself for my mistake by telling myself that it has been so long since Mika has missed a jump at a trial, and therefore I'm out of practice in how I should react.

Excuse my little personal rant, it really bothers me when I make these kinds of mistakes! :) I was really happy with Mika's enthusiasm though, and I noticed that she had a nice hit in the yellow on the A-frame. Focus on the good points, and forgive your own stupidness! It just better not happen again! :)

Hey, it happens and I bet Mika is a lot more forgiving of you then you are of yourself and she would not want you beating yourself up ;-), it happens, you dont make a habit of it and it was a good learning situation. You are a great handler and a GREAT team mate, so chalk it up to experience!

I feel for you. I have that problem too. If I stop at all Miley knows there was a mistake and starts stress circling. So Im trying really hard not to do that but sometimes it just happens. Try not to beat yourself up. Ugh, I hate snooker

Welcome!

Hi there! It's good to see you stopping in at my blog. On Dream Dogz, I write about my two active dogs' agility training and trialing, and share all of the lessons I learn along the way. I also occasionally talk about our progress in dealing with my dogs' specific "challenges" that we are slowly, but surely, overcoming together (specifically, Mika's dog reactivity and Wall-e's fear of constant noises).